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heres a screen shot but for better understand i uploaded the drawing

hey guys another question from page 8-9 i dont understand how the channel beam suppose to be placed. channel beams rest on the bottom flanges of the griders. with a 1" gap form the web of the girder to the end of the channel.?? need to create pairs of channel beams, 24 of them. my attached file can you guys take another look plz

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The W12x152 beams are the vertical columns. The W12x45 girders and C9x20 channels are horizontal and are the support for the 2nd floor/roof. I didn't read the whole thing, but I didn't see where it specified the connection between the W12x45 girders and the vertical columns. The channels rest on the bottom flange of the W12x45 and attach to the web with a 4 inch angle bracket ...

The W12x152 beams are the vertical columns. The W12x45 girders and C9x20 channels are horizontal and are the support for the 2nd floor/roof. I didn't read the whole thing, but I didn't see where it specified the connection between the W12x45 girders and the vertical columns. The channels rest on the bottom flange of the W12x45 and attach to the web with a 4" angle bracket

wow that looks awesome, i tihkn i know what im suppose to do now. i never pictured the 3-D version to be like that. now i understand the foundation plan much much more. and you got some really really nice quality on your video's. i should download jing myself to capture stuff

cadtutor is like my online tutor thanks so much. i learn much more form you guys than these books they give me

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The bulk of my business is commercial curtainwall, site plans and floor plans. I do occasionally get a bit of tool and die, and the odd house now and again.

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Originally Posted by Firligic

wow that looks awesome, i tihkn i know what im suppose to do now. i never pictured the 3-D version to be like that. now i understand the foundation plan much much more. and you got some really really nice quality on your video's. i should download jing myself to capture stuff

cadtutor is like my online tutor thanks so much. i learn much more form you guys than these books they give me

I didn't catch whether you said you were in an actual classroom or doing this course via correspondence, but here's a suggestion for you. If you're in an actual classroom setting, why not approach the instructor about taking a field trip to an actual construction site near your school? If he or she thinks it's a good idea and gets approval from the school, I'm sure they could find one that would allow a guided tour for a little while so you and your classmates could see how some of this stuff actually looks and goes together. If that isn't possible, perhaps you could befriend someone in the trade that would show you some of the stuff on a site. Be sure you get approval from the site manager. If all else fails, take a pair of binoculars and stand outside the fence and look. Just don't trespass without permission. These sites are dangerous places especially for the untrained.

Actually seeing how it goes together can go a long way towards helping you visualize what you need to put in your drawings. Watching for an hour or two won't make you an expert, and every architect and engineer has his own way of doing things, but you can get a general idea of how it all works. There are many construction site photos on the web as well. Spend some time digging and you'll gain a better understanding of what you are trying to draw.

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. -Robert Heinlein

this is a online class of penn foster. but yea ill advice your advice about the work sites.

well i hope i did the foundation plan correctly.

cuz now im stuck on page 11.
so what i think i understand is, I am now taking the foundation the i made and making the south elevation with it right?
from what i understand this project is in 2-D right, not 3-D??

a keyway??

but here on page 11 its tlaking about elevation. finish grade elevation 292.90, first floor elevation 293.90, second floor elevation 305.19. distance from the top footings to the finish grade is 4'-0".

Jack_O'neill's Computer Details

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I think you are missing some key terminology. It's confusing because the same words are commonly used to describe different things. Maybe I can help clear that up a bit. If you are talking about views in a drawing, the "plan" view is as if you were looking straight down from above the building. The foundation "plan" at that point would represent what the building's foundation would look like if you were suspended from a crane looking straight down at it.

An exterior "elevation" view is a look at the side of the building as though you were standing on the ground looking at the building. You would create a drawing of just what you see.

The "first floor elevation" your text on page 11 refers to is the height of the floor above some known point. This can be sea level, some USGS marker, or any number of other references depending upon the architect. For your purposes at this stage, it doesn't really matter what the reference is. Since your first floor is at 293.90, and the second floor is at 305.19, subtract the smaller number from the larger one, and you find that your second floor is 11.29 feet above the first floor.

You will eventually create a "section" view. This view will be as if you had sliced the building at some point and were looking inside it. These are sometimes called "cross-sections". You will also do sections for details of walls, windows, and just about everything that goes into a building where clarification is needed on how it's built.

I would very much suggest you get hold of this book: Construction Drawings and Details for Interiors: Basic Skills by Kilmer and Kilmer. It's available on Amazon both in hardcopy and a Kindle version. They have a reader app for PC's that is a free download so you can purchase Kindle books and read them on your pc without having to have a Kindle, by the way. There may even be one or something like it in your local public library or bookstore. Any book on basic drafting will have the information you need. I suggested this one simply because I know it's easily obtainable. You may find drafting books in used bookstores, especially if you live near a college town. Many of the older texts will talk about papers and pencils and the tools of manual drafting, but don't let that put you off the book. The information about how to dimension and how create and label the various views required has not changed much. Most of the terminology is the same, with a few exceptions.

There is a common misconception that is spreading throughout many of the vocational and technical schools and even many colleges that learning how to use AutoCAD is the be all and end all of drafting. Based solely on the portion of the text you have provided, I get the impression that this course is either built on that assumption, or that they have assumed that anyone taking this course is already familiar with drafting and/or blueprint reading. Being proficient in AutoCAD without basic drafting skills is like knowing how to draw with a pencil, but never having learned to write.

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not criticizing you at all. No one is born knowing how to do this stuff and unless someone teaches you (or you grab a book and learn it yourself) you can't possibly know what all these things mean. This is the source of your confusion. If you can get your hands on a drafting manual of some sort, a few hours of reading will clear up much of the trouble you are experiencing. As an added bonus, you'll have the book there to refer to in future when you have one of those "now what was that again?" moments. You'll be able to grab the book, hit the index and have an "oh yeah, I remember now" moment. Combine that with the help you'll find here and you'll soon have a handle on it.

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. -Robert Heinlein

yea i know what u mean, it is the terminology that greatly confuses on every project. I thought all the books and lessons penn foster gave me was sufficient. But I guess I need to stretch out more and try that book you speak of. thank you

Jack_O'neill's Computer Details

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Originally Posted by Firligic

yea i know what u mean, it is the terminology that greatly confuses on every project. I thought all the books and lessons penn foster gave me was sufficient. But I guess I need to stretch out more and try that book you speak of. thank you

It is very confusing at first. I don't know if early drafters had limited vocabularies and just ran out of words or what. Wait till someone asks you "what is the elevation of the elevation?" First time someone said that to me, I just stood there looking at him as if he'd just landed from Mars. Had no idea what he meant.

Like I said, it doesn't have to be that one. Any basic drafting manual will help you. I took my first drafting class in high school, learning on paper with t-squares and triangles, and up until about 5 years ago that textbook lived on my book shelf right above my desk. The only reason it's not there now is because of a broken sprinkler in the ceiling at a past employer. Soaked everything, and that poor old book disintegrated on me.

I am not familiar with the Penn Foster courses, but I know they are a pretty good school. You will do well with them. I'm being an old codger here, but I think any AutoCAD course should have a section at the beginning on basic drafting. There are a few folks who will already know that stuff, but there are many who don't even realize that they need it. They are two distinct skill sets. You can be the finest drafter in the world and not know a thing about AutoCAD. By the same token, you can know AutoCAD inside out and not know a thing about drafting.

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. -Robert Heinlein